no title

New report shows Americans sacrifice to pay for housing

By: Mark Ferenchik

The Columbus Dispatch - June 03, 2014 02:07 PM

Many Americans say they have had to cut back on retirement savings, health care and healthy
foods and have run up credit card debt to cover their rent or mortgages, according to a
new report the MacArthur Foundation released today.

The How Housing Matters Survey, the second such survey conducted, shows that majorities of those
surveyed found it challenging to find affordable housing in their community, whether buying (59
percent) or renting (58 percent).

Meanwhile, 82 percent feel that it is very or fairly likely that families struggling to
keep housing will have to take on an additional job or hours, while 73 percent believe they'll have
to cut back on saving for retirement and 72 percent think they'll have to accumulate credit
card debt.

More than half of the adults surveyed -- 52 percent -- said they have had to make at least one
sacrifice to cover their rent or mortgage during the past three years. That jumps to 64 percent for
Latinos and 63 percent for African-Americans.

The survey found that most of those interviewed said they want the federal government to do
more, policywise, to support homeownership and rental housing.

Hart Research Associates conducted telephone interviews with 1,355 adults in April. It
oversampled owners and renters who pay more than 30 percent of their income toward housing.